Goose Hunting

Goose hunting is the practice of hunting geese for sport or food. In many western countries, commercial goose hunting is prohibited, and such hunting is primarily an outdoor sport.

Many types of geese share the same habitat, have overlapping or identical hunting seasons, and are hunted using similar methods. Thus it is not uncommon to take several different species of geese in the same outing. There are several different types of goose hunt one can do. Geese are often hunted in fields (corn, soybean, hay) where they go to feed twice during a day. Hunting over water is also common for geese, including in ponds, lakes, bays, or oceans.

The future of North America’s goose hunting heritage depends on conserving and restoring goose habitats on privately owned agricultural landscapes since that is where many geese are produced. Furthermore, conservation on a large-scale is the only way to make significant gains in goose populations. Geese have been hunted for food, down, and feathers worldwide since prehistoric times. Geese appear in European cave paintings from the last Ice Age. A mural in one of the Ancient Egyptian tombs shows a man in a blind capturing swimming geese in a trap.

Goose hunting with shotguns began in the 1600’s. Early European settlers in America, hunted geese with great zeal, as the supply of geese seemed unlimited. During the fall migrations, the skies were filled with geese. Places such as Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, Barnaget Bay were hunted for geese extensively. As more immigrants came to America in the late 1700’s and 1800’s, market hunting started to take form to supply the local population living along the Atlantic coast with fresh geese. Men would go into wooden boats with large shotguns. They would bring back a barrel or two of geese each day. The rise of modern goose hunting is tied to the history of the shotgun, which can kill more reliably at greater ranges than a weapon that shoots a single projectile. In the 19th century, the seemingly limitless flocks of geese in the flyways of North America were the basis for a thriving commercial waterfowl hunting industry. With the use of punt-guns- massive, boat-mounted shotguns, hunters could kill dozens of geese with a single blast. This period of intense commercial hunting is vividly depicted in books. Today’s goose population is thriving and continually growing thanks to the many conservation efforts of sportsmen.

Hunting season is generally in the autumn and winter. Hunting seasons are typically set by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. In the autumn, the geese have finished raising their young and are migrating to warmer areas to feed. There are four large flyways that the geese follow. There are three elements used by almost all goose hunters: a shotgun, hunting blind, and decoys. The decoys are used to lure the geese within range, and the blind conceals the hunter. Once the geese are within range, the hunters, rise from the blind and quickly shoot the geese before they are frightened off. Goose calls are often used to attract geese.